Yeah, this is a bit of a weird moment for us, and not just because this is one of those pages where everything that could go wrong DID go wrong. We've had death alluded to or mentioned, but Mercy is by far the most elaborate and notable character in either comic to be killed. The closest until now was Salix in Blues, who didn't have anywhere close to as much screen-time and wasn't even human on top of that. It's odd finally having a named character bite it.
And Mercy was always planned for this. He was introduced with us knowing that Hazel would kill him, and the last few pages have made it clear how it was going to go down. And even still... The death is just so strange to think about... Ah, well.
At the very least it was awesome to do. ^^ Even with all the horrible shit that kept happening over the course of trying to get this page together, I can't say I don't love the result. We went over just how to get Hazel's manic energy in the swings and beatings, with different angles to how he's using the tire iron, the final thrust at the end of the fight.... The last thing to get added to the page (thanks to me brainlessly forgetting it over and over) was the blood, and it just perfectly punctuates it. Hazel's getting revenge and Mercy's not really an innocent victim but... Jesus... The blood just makes it look so deliciously deranged.... Hazel isn't just making a power play. Something else is going on in this guy's head. He's clearly so much more twisted than we thought.
At the same time though.... Mercy didn't go out like a bitch. There's something about not giving Hazel the satisfaction of hearing him beg that I think is at least kind of awesome. Way to walk out with your middle finger up, man.
Guess no since beating around the bush on this one - William Mercy is dead.
From quite a bit of conversation I've had with readers, I've widely seen him described as being the most unlikable of the various gang members in the comic and... Yeah, that's largely what he was designed to be. An obnoxious asshole positioned to be a big deal in the comic with the eventual endgame of being the first major death in the comics as part of a broader storyline that went past him.
... Goddamn he came off off-model in that old cover. Yeesh.
Anyway, yeah. This isn't the first time Hazel tried to kill him. There were a few tipoffs that that was what he was really trying to do during the train robbery.
This one isn't really worth linking to but there's also the matter of Down's name. Hazel said that he assumed it was short for Cooldown, and later Down said the same thing while also referring to Meltdown. It's highly unlikely Hazel could know one meaning of the name without also knowing the rest of it.
So yeah. This is where we're at right now. Still a few more pages left to go in the chapter but this is more than likely the most impactful one and we're really hoping it hits people.
We did take some inspiration from it, but we did try to keep it from looking too similar. We did go back and forth a bit on the proper way of Hazel to deliver the beating....
Also, while I was adding the blood for this page I remembered thinking how bizarre it was there was none in Todd's death. I'm sure it was just a censorship thing but still, what?
Also, while I was adding the blood for this page I remembered thinking how bizarre it was there was none in Todd's death. I'm sure it was just a censorship thing but still, what?